12 Day Gratitude Challenge!

Day 1: FOOD!

It should be noted that today marks the first day of my detox so, today I decided it made sense to write about how grateful I am everyday for everything that feeds my body and gives it the life it contains.

Food is the body's medicine and I'm extremely grateful to have the knowledge of that (there was a time in my life when I was more grateful for things that just tasted good!) and to have enough food in general!

On a side note: I'm extremely grateful for avocado, it must be said. I'm eating avocado as I type - so damn good!

Day 2: Education

There are days in my life I forget, I would be absolutely no where - on the street probably - without the education I've received. Which, for the most part, has cost me absolutely nothing!

I may not be as educated or intelligent as some, have a PhD or specialise in any one thing, but I certainly know enough to get me to where I am today and it's eye-opening to think about the opportunities I've had in order to get me to here.

I am extremely grateful for my education, every minute of it. Knowledge is power - for me anyway.

Day 3: Technology

Yesterday I woke up at 4:00am and got out of bed to 'powder my nose' let's say. Stumbling in the darkness I came back into the room and went to climb back into bed. *CRACK* Of course, I'd left my sturdy old ThinkPad on the floor after writing late the night before. I was absolutely gutted after all we'd been through together, she died by my own hand. I got this thing for nothing, from an old work colleague. It was old and slow. The fan buzz was louder than my own thoughts sometimes. Nonetheless, we were a good team. I'd moved through 6 different houses and flats with this laptop in my early 20's and now it was time to say goodbye. You may think I'm being dramatic but it was the end of an era.

Needless to say in the following days I, had to start thinking about replacing the old gal.

So, reluctantly, Ench and I went out and bought a new model (he's very good with computers. I, on the other hand would have more luck picking a laptop at random than trusting my intuition here).

Sad story ain't it?

My gratitude here is in a couple of areas. Firstly, for the time spent with my sturdy ThinkPad. I'm sure technology wasn't built to with stand everything she went through but miraculously she did - right up until I trod my big sleepy foot through her poor face. So for that I'm very grateful for a good run and everything she provided me in the meantime. We started the business together! RIP.

I'm also very grateful, as much as it pains me to say, for the new model. I'm not a big fan of new technology (which was half the reason I challenged myself to be grateful for tech in the first place) but this machine is out of this world. It is literally amazing for the business, writing and keeping absolutely everything in one place and I find myself wondering what on earth I was doing stuck in the dark ages for so long!

Day 4: Family

As my Dad's 61st birthday approaches, I can't help but feel gratitude towards my family.

I've been talking to my brother about what to do to celebrate and it reminded me that every year, we get together and decide what to do for our each of our parents when their birthday's arrive. As well as for Christmas & Mother's/Father's Day too.

Putting two heads together helps us celebrate our parents in some pretty cool ways. When one of us feels like we've done just about everything apart from a luxury cruise, the other will come up with something barbaric! Luckily for us, most of the time it's a hit! (It also feels right to add here that I couldn't be more grateful to have my family here to celebrate, I love them all very much.)

This is one of the things in my life I feel incredible amounts of gratitude for but when something becomes habitual, often a lot goes unnoticed. Being such an old tradition between the two of us, it just feels like the norm, it's expected. Taking time out to actively be grateful I realise it's a special thing we share. I'd actually be extremely lost if I didn't have this thing with my bro throughout the year and I feel very lucky to have such a special thing.

Day 5: Friends

After recently quitting my job to begin setting up AnandA Wellness UK, move to another city to be closer to my boyfriend and start a fresh, new life, I really see now who is important to me and who wasn't worth my time in the first place. This sounds very dramatic, I can assure you, it was just a case of walking away, drama-free and all for the best!

My friends have been so supportive in everything I've been doing and to keep it short and sweet, I'm so so thankful to have people in my life I can turn to for any reason day or night. I know they will be there for me. It's the most humbling feeling knowing those people who have your back.

Distance may separate people, but it can never separate friends.

Day 6: Culture & History

Traditional Martenitsa Tree

In preparation to travel to Bulgaria to meet my boyfriend's family for the first time (eeeeek...), I've been attempting to learn some basic phrases in Bulgarian. Attempting being the key word there! Also, to learn a little more about the culture there.

I've one word for what I've discovered so far...

- "Wow!"

This small country, about 1.5 Irelands' in size and once subject to devastating dictatorship, harsh communist law and has throughout history, continuously remained draped in rich, fascinating and extremely creative culture. From

the famous murals and visual arts, distinguishable music played at weddings, events and ceremonies, closely held religion, battle monuments, ancient rituals (such as the kukeri- don't be frightened it's all to warn off evil spirits. I see why it works!), traditional theatre, beautiful nature and quaint architecture to the exchanging of martenitsas (pictured) on 1st March- a combination of red and white thread tied together. Traditionally in the form of a man and a woman and exchanged between loved ones as a gift of health and longevity. When the wearer sees a stork, swallow or blossoming tree they are usually tied to the tree or you can see them in other places too. The white representing peace and tranquillity & the red, the cycle of life.

One thing that stands out to me, is that the people of Bulgaria, during hard times and happy times held their culture so dear and preserved it's heritage so that these traditions still live on today.! That in itself is an esoteric achievement to be massively grateful for!

I should also mention that, the delectable cuisine, of which I've had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into once or twice already (courtesy of boyfriend himself), is something I doubtlessly recommend! In fact, click here to get an idea of the yummy goodness, if you get the chance you won't resist! The point is, I could go on, but idea of this post is not to relentlessly market Bulgaria, it is to direct these feelings of gratitude towards other wonderful countries on this tiny globe. Learning about all these things has certainly made me feel that for Bulgaria. I really can't wait to get over there and dive into it!

Shte se vidim, kogato se vŭrna!!

Day 7: Landscape

The golden-green rice terraces all over Indonesia's Bali had me feeling gratitude to the point of tears, it's so beautifully over whelming.

I say thank you for this experience! The force of life spread across the landscape, the dependency of the paddies on the owners and workers of the fields, the beautiful colours of nature here are so full of energy! Thank you.

Day 8: Something New To Me

Whilst it isn't terribly new to me in terms of hours or days, today I am grateful for 2 things that are fairly new to me, becoming vegan and giving up smoking. I smoked for many years and was also a meat eater. I never thought I'd have to courage to stop either. As silly as it sounds, never say never right? I'd even tried once or twice with both and found it was very hard. Back then I was ignorantly doing it for less-ethical reasons! The meat was more obvious but I was just convinced I'd never have a good enough reason to stop smoking, so long as I didn't smoke around other people I was only harming myself right? Wrong...

Smoking, just like eating meat and wearing fur has a terrible impact on the environment. I just had my eyes closed to it before. Becoming vegan is a funny thing in that, it doesn't just force you to look at what you're eating and the direct impact you have on other creatures and the environment. It leads you far out into uncharted territory and into daily ethical dilemmas with regards to the companies you buy from, clothes you wear, toiletries and cleaning products you use. Basically anything physical or material you choose to have in your life at all! It can seem very overwhelming at times but once you get used to these changes, it just becomes part of your life. No biggy :)

Whilst it may have seemed crazy hard at first. I'm so very grateful for firstly, becoming vegan and more on that, for becoming vegan AND for there being enough information out there to see I couldn't ever return to old ways - and secondly, for giving up smoking! I will be honest and say I've since been known to have a puff on a friends' cigarette after a glass of wine but I am no longer a full-time or even social smoker. In fact, I don't remember the last cigarette I smoked. It's something I never thought I could HAPPILY achieve and I did. If you're thinking about giving up smoking OR becoming vegan, I highly recommend you do your homework and hopefully it won't be for you, as difficult as it was for me in the beginning.

If you're at all interested to know how smoking really harms, not just you and others around you but the environment itself - CLICK HERE!

Day 9: Yoga

Yoga is one of those things I never thought I'd be truly grateful for. Well, to be honest it never crossed my mind that I ever could be as it seemed hard when I started. Taking up yoga has literally changed my life, even though I might not look too different, it has taught me many things about myself and the world around me. Number One being that stretching feels SO DAMN GOOD!

I also didn't think I'd actually ever know what it felt like to "arrive". Standing at the top of my mat ready to stretch the sh*t out of myself has to be up there with one of the best feelings for me on a daily basis. Only when I realised that yoga is not instagram is when yoga became important to me.

“A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves.”

–T. Guillemets

There is so much stigma about how yoga should look that I feel it puts people off doing it - especially in front of others. It did me! However, yoga is quite the opposite of that.

It's about moving your body to the rhythm of your soul! In other words, yoga enables you to freely move to what feels good for you (some poses, at first, don't feel quite so good but you get into them!).

Yoga is, at first, clumsy, sweaty and looks ridiculous! I'm just so grateful I did it long enough to realise for myself that isn't quite the case when you really feel what you're doing.

Day 10: Weather

Today is Sunday. It's the August bank holiday weekend and of course, true to Great Britain, the heavens have opened! I spent my morning doing a few chores (nothing heavy), writing, and I went out to do a little shopping. The air is chilly and it's raining heavily! Raining like, third setting on your wipers kind of raining! I LOVE THIS WEATHER! Even to be out in this weather makes me grateful for so many things! It fills me with raw life. Walking around feeling the water penetrate my jacket and run down the back of my neck has me realising what a powerful planet we live on! It helps me to be thankful for the wind rumbling down the chimney breast this morning whilst I was warm under the sheets. It makes me grateful to have a car to get around in. It makes me grateful to live in a country where this kind of weather isn't a red danger to my way of life, to now be perched on my bed, tapping away on my laptop in my favourite pyjamas (wondering which flavour of soup to have for dinner to really fulfil the cliche).

"Some people love the rain, others just get wet!" - Zig Ziglar

Day 11: Water

We took a trip today to Kaya Bunar waterfall, Hotnishki, Bulgaria.

I'm not just grateful for the exposure of this amazing wonder but I'm also grateful for the clear, sunny skies that accompanied it and made the whole experience that little bit more beautiful. The sight of it, the natural sounds, the smell, the heat and moisture in the air was something I'll never forget.

I'm also grateful to my boyfriend and his family for taking time out and bringing me here.

We stood in awe at the bottom, taking it all in before we headed up a beaten track of handcrafted wooden bridges, ladders and trails which, if I'm completely honest the UK would have had a health and safety fit over but it was so worth it! We went right to the top and, once we'd arrived, got the view right from where you see the water emerging from. The view over the falls was breathtaking. I thank you for this day.

Day 12: Gratitude

It may seem strange to be grateful for gratitude but there is a method to my madness! It isn't necessarily gratitude itself I'm grateful for, it's simply the awareness of it.

A few years ago, gratitude passed me by like a cloud in the sky. By that, I don't mean I wasn't grateful, I just wasn't aware that I should be if I wasn't. The awareness of gratitude is what aids us to put a positive spin on a negative situation and without the awareness we would just see it for what it is - a bad thing happening to us.

I now realise that it really is thoughts of love and gratitude that hold the strongest forces in the universe. That may seem a little out there to some, but think about it. Are you at your best when you're feeling positive feelings of love and gratitude or negative feelings of hate and dislike? Once you are aware of making the conscious effort to grateful, magic really does happen. You learn to make the best out of something bad and you learn to recognise where your opportunities have come from - your gratitude.

Try this simple exercise - each day find 3 minutes to write 3 things you're happy and grateful about. Preferably in the morning when you wake up. Once you get into doing this it sets you on the right track for beginning your day and pretty soon you'll begin to notice other benefits that come into manifestation when you harness the power of gratitude.

I'm extremely grateful for my awareness of gratitude and it's importance, without it, this post wouldn't exist! Nor would AnandA Wellness for that matter.

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Written by Charlotte Deverill